Philadelphia 76ers Hope or Hype?

With a new team, loaded with a first round draft pick and two red-shirted rookies, there is a lot of optimism with the Philadelphia 76ers this season.

A tale of two cities. On the one hand, the treetop level analysis of national grade media have given the Philadelphia 76ers a virtual “meh” for the team’s projections in the upcoming season. Coming from a 10-72 record, the best those “experts” see out of this team is 20 wins, tops.

On the other hand, those who follow the team understand the true vacuum of the roster last season, and have preached about it to anyone and everyone who will listen.  Last season was not just a team of young players, but was snakebitten with injuries, bad roster construction, too little time to cross train players and too many players needing development.

The team had head coach Brett Brown. No veteran players (Carl Landry did not join the team until December) and no starting point guard (Ish Smith did not join the team until Christmas).  In that context, 20 wins seems a norm without any roster improvements.

So now the season is about to start, and the projections and pundits will weigh in with their two sense.  But in the battle of the hearts and minds of each and every Philadelphia 76ers fan out there, each of you will be tasked with decyphering whether this is a team of hope, or hype.

Ultimately, each article, narrative, or dissertation is targeting you, the reader.  While much will be information, the spin of each story will give cause to hope, or to simply dash that optimism as unnecessary hype.

December 30, 2015; Sacramento, CA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown instructs during the third quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Sleep Train Arena. The 76ers defeated the Kings 110-105. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

15 Solid players

From the ashes of the 2015-2016 season, let’s truly consider the quality of the team that had begun the quest into the regular season last year.

With Joel Embiid on rehab, the team was a 14 player roster.  While Brown was trying to teach Noel and Okafor how to play with some version of compatibility, the team started the season with Tony Wroten, Kendall Marshall, Carl Landry, Robert Covington, and Nik Stauskas injured as well.

Undermanned, and outgunned.

While the team rushed Stauskas back into the starting lineup, the season would not begin for the other injured until much later. Covington returned on November 16.  Wroten would not return until December 5th.  Marshall would not return until December 11th. Landry arrived December 23rd.  Point guard Ish Smith would arrive via trade to the 76ers on December 26th. Just as the team began to gel, top scorer Jahlil Okafor would play his last game for the season on February 28th.

While the games played in the 2015-2016 have meaning, I struggle to consider them “career defining” as so many of my colleagues have done. The team was an infirmary, a series of rotating lineups dictated from healthy bodies, not game planning.

But the 2016-2017 season has, for the time being, the expectation of 15 healthy productive NBA players. We had assessed the training camp roster earlier this week.  We had even done a power ranking for the team at a far too early point in time, projecting 32 wins for the improving 76ers. Now lets consider the team as a whole.

Oct 23, 2015; Manchester, NH, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Nerlens Noel (4) talks to forward Jerami Grant (R) during the second half against the Boston Celtics at Verizon Wireless Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

Focus on Defense

It starts with the defense.  That is the we roll in Philadelphia, and that suits the coaches just fine.

For three seasons, the Philadelphia 76ers’ cupboards have been relatively bare when you consider what head coach Brett Brown needed, versus the players he had at his ready.  As he did not have the player skills on the roster, Brown developed them.  Last season, he targeted both Robert Covington and Nik Stauskas and worked with each player to evolve into two way players.

The team already had three young solid defenders in Nerlens Noel, Richaun Holmes and Jerami Grant.   But Brown knows that the team must do more.

To that, the Philadelphia 76ers have upgraded defensively, particularly in the back court. Philly’s native son Gerald Henderson returns home and brings significant defensive ability with him.  For the other guard slot, it appears that Jerryd Bayless will get the nod. Bayless is also strong defensively as well.

In the front court, the team has loaded up with rookies in Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, and Dario Saric.   While only a rookie, Brown has not hesitated to name Embiid as the cornerstone to the defense.

But it will be more than just new personnel this year.  While Brown was so overloaded just patching holes in the roster last season, he was forced to keep it simple stupid on both offense and defense.  The quality and versatility of the roster this year will give the coach the green light to throw the entire playbook at his defense.

We’ve seen Brown work miracles with next to nothing before. In the 2014-2015 season, the team held opponents to 101 points per game. This roster is much improved defensively over that team and that team only scored 92.0 points per game.

Sep 26, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Dario Saric (9) during media day at the Philadelphia 76ers Training Complex. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

This Team Can Score

Defense my be the heart of this team. But ultimately, a basketball team must score to win.  Thankfully, this team should be able to do just that.

A Brett Brown offense does not depend upon players “making their own shots”.  With a fast-pace ball-movement well-spaced scheme, the ball simply needs to end up in the hands of the open player.  With a team roster which includes Ben Simmons, Dario Saric, Sergio Rodriguez, Jerryd Bayless, T.J. McConnell, and even Joel Embiid, that ball will find the open man.

So while the logic leads us to believe that Jahlil Okafor can tear the roof off the NBA scoring in this offense, on any given night the team might be led by Nerlens Noel or Robert Covington, both players who depend upon the upon shot to get the good look and the score.

This offense will deliver that.

We had looked at the rookies who could make a huge difference on this team in Ben Simmons, Dario Saric, and Joel Embiid.  Much like Carson Wentz on the Philadelphia Eagles, one player going lights out elevates the spirits and play of his teammates.

Great teams have three great players, and build a roster around those stars to compliment the overall team. Right now, the Philadelphia 76ers must develop those young stars, whomever they might be.

While the focus for this year will be defense, the team could land over 100 points per game on offense this season.  That would place the team at a very competitive position.

Mar 29, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown in a game against the Charlotte Hornets at Wells Fargo Center. The Charlotte Hornets won 100-85. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Hope, Hype? How about Help?

At some point in Brett Brown’s career as head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, this must become fun. Fun for the coach. Fun for the players. And even fun for the fans.

Winning creates that sense of enjoyment in competitive sports among the team and its fanbase.  It’s a great feeling to finally win a few.

The core of the Philadelphia 76ers have only known the struggle of NBA competition so far. Struggle in terms of on the court games being decided by one point scored by the other team, and off court by unruly events that are immediately regretted by passionate players.

Winning fixes all.

This team needs that type of fix.

That’s why the team has loaded up on so many new players.  This is the line in the sand now.  Do or do not, there is no try.  And with the level of talent on the roster, both the starting five as well as the bench will be very competitive this season. In fact, the 76ers bench may be one of the most underrated aspects of the team this season.

With a solid team up and down, it will be difficult to point to an obvious “cause” why this team will win more games.  Will it be Joel Embiid’s presence in the post? Will it be Ben Simmons’ laser guided passing to the open shooter? Will it be Dario Saric three pointers?

Who knows?

But the team has elevated the roster across the board.  While there is not realistic reason to believe this is a .500 team, it’s better than any of the three previous seasons by a wide margin.

Don’t be knocked off the perch of optimism so quickly this year. There are many solid reasons to feel great about the Philadelphia 76ers.

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